Headscratchers / Transformers: Energon

• It is established that Energon Mist is lethal to Autobots but has no effect on Decepticons. Why would the Autobots have such a weakness? Also, would this status persist if a member of either side made a Face–Heel Turn or Heel–Face Turn? What about the Omnicons and Minicons? What about if a Decepticon spark ended up in an Autobot body, or vice versa? (I know all of those things happened over the course of the series, but the Energon Mist question was never explored). Also, would the Dinobots be affected?
  • I don't remember exactly what the context was when this was established, but I'd imagine it had something to do with the Terrorcons and/or energon refinement (remember that Terrorcons and Omnicons produce different energon that seems to work different ways). I'm not sure why the Dinobots would be special in this regard.
  • Assuming we're talking about the TV show, there seemed to be two varieties of energon. The green Energon used by 'cons is harmful to Autobots only, hence green energon gas letting the 'cons take over Cybertron in the space of one episode. The red Energon used by Autobots is harmful to Depticons only, hence all the various energon weaponry (towers, grids, etc.) in the first half of the series. Why the hell it should be this way was never adequately explored. And it's a good question, if someone switched sides, would they suddenly switch in terms of energon effects? But, presumably, if Autobot energon were released in gas form, it'd be harmful to Decepticons. As for Omnicons, it's established that generations of being energon-forgers have given them immunity to energon radiation. The energon gas never affects them. And no, there'd be no reason for the Dinobots to be any different. As Autobots, Autobot energon is good, Decepticon energon is bad.
  • In all likelyhood, Red "Autobot" Energon and Green "Decepticon" Energon just don't mix well together. They're all derived from the same base substance, and it all works to power things, but they and their energy emissions do very bad things to eachother when they mix. Going from Bot to Con likely involves being emptied, cleaned, and reconfigured to run on "their" energon.